Trical



(No Model.)

LE ROY S. WHITE.

BLEGTRIG SWITCH.

' UNITED STATES PATENT ENCE.

LE ROY S. VHITE, OF UVATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR'TO THE ELEC- TRICAL APPLIANCE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

ELECTRIC SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 451,190, dated April 28, 1891. Application filed October 11, 1890. Serial No. 367,810. (No model.)

.T 1f/ZZ 10h07 t may Umwernf the opening c within the post,iirmly locking Be it known that I, LE ROY S. YHITE, of the wire to the base and forming an efficient Vaterbnry, in the county of New Haven and contact between the post and the wire. State of Connecticut, have invented a new In the presentinstance there are four ends 5 5 and useful Improvement in Electric Switches, of wires B represented as secured to the base, of which the following is a specification. two of them corresponding to the adjacent My invention relates to an improvcmentin ends of the wire which conducts the elecelectric switches in which a double break and tricity into'the building and the other two to double contact is insured when the switch is the adjacent ends of the wire which conducts 6o ro turned off oi on. the electricity out of the building'.

A practical embodiment of my invention is l have denoted the binding-screws which represented in the accompanying drawings, correspond to the adjacent ends of the one in whichwire by D, and the binding-screws which cor- Figure 1 is a top plan view with an operatrespond to the adjacent ends of the other 65 ing-handle removed. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan by D.

view. Fig. 3 is a vertical central section. Upon the upper' side of the base two pairs Fig. 4 is a top plan View with the contactof contact-plates are secured, as follows: The bar, handle, and contact-plate removed. Fig. contact-plates E, which serve to connect the 5 is an end view, in detail, of the contact-bar, ends of the wire leading into the building, are 7o .zo and Fig. 6 is a View in detail of one of the firmly fixed to the top of the base at one end binding-posts. by the bindin g-screws D,which extend through A represents the base, which is preferably them, and at their opposite ends they extend of circular form, as herein shown, and calcuupwardly and over toward each other, as lated to be made of porcelain or other suitshownat e, the extreme ends heilig separated 75 able material capable of receiving an ornainto resilient prongs c', preferably, as shown, mental finish and to withstand injury from by forming slits a short distance back from V changes in temperature and dampness. The the ends. The said contact-plates are further under side of the base A is hollowed out, as secured near their upwardly=extending porshown at a, and servesv as a receiVing-chamtions to the base by means of screws F,which 8o 3o ber for the ends of the wires B, which conextend through from the bottom of the base duct the electricity to and from a building. into suitable threaded perforations f in the The recess a4 on the under side of the base is contact-plates. A pair. of contact-plates E', provided with radially-extending recesses c', similar in construction to the contact-plates which extend outward through the exterior E, are secured to the ends of the outgoing 85 of the base and form channels for the recepwire by the binding-screws D', and their uption of the ends of the wires B, and the bindwardly-proj ected ends are located at a pointing-posts C are seated in sockets c, intermeupon the top of the base, preferably diametdiate of the ends of the recesses c', and are rically opposite the position of the adjacent allowed a vertical movement within their ends of the plates E. A contactbar G is 9o 4o sockets. 'lhesaidbinding-posts are provided" mounted at its central portion upon the opwith openings c therethrough,through which erating-spindle'll, so that. it may slide freely the ends of the wires B extend, and the upper on the spindle toward and away from the top ends of said binding-posts are provided with of the base. The contact-bar G is provided interior-threaded perforations c2, in which the with oppositelyextending arms l'iearing on 95 lower ends of the binding-screws D engage, their ends contact-pieces g, located between and serve when screwed downwardly or inthe uprising ends e of the contact-plates and wardly to draw the post C into its socket, and secured to and insulated from the ends of the thereby cause the wire upon the opposite bar G. I find it convenient to effect the insides of the post to snugly engage the opposulation by inserting thin layers U of nonroo 5o site edges of the socket c, and hence bear conducting material between the underside with a firm contact against the lower side of of the contact-piece g and the upper side of the bar G and between the lower side of the bar G and a washer g', the whole-being secured together by means of one or more bolts or rivets g2.

I prefer to provide the contact-piece g with obliquely-extending wings g3, so that as the bar G is raised away from the top of the base it will gradually cause the adjacent ends e of the contact-plates to be spread apart. The contact-bar G is held in its proper relation with respect to the pairs of adjacent ends of tie contact-plates by means of guide-studs K, fixed at their upper ends to the bar and projecting downwardly through the base A into the recess a in the underside of thebase.

The elevating of the bar G and the consequent making contact are accomplished by means of a double cam L, fixed to the lower end of the spindle H so as to rotate therewith. One of the cam-surfaces Z is clearly shown in Fig. 3, and the opposite side of the cam L is provided with a similar cam-surface Z. The "cam-surfaces Z are so located with respect to the lowerends of the guide-studs K that when the contact-bar G is near the top of the base and the contact-pieces g out of contact with the plates E and E the lower ends of said guide-studs will occupy a position at the lowermost end of the cam-surfaces. From this it follows that when the spindle and the cam L fixed thereon are rotated the lower ends of the studs K will ride along on the cam-surfaces Z until they reach the top of said surfaces, at which time the contact-pieces g will have beenlifted to pointsnearthe upper ends of the fingers e', and a firm contact will have been established between the said fingers and the contact-pieces. The cam-surfaces L are so arranged that it will require about a onehalf rotation of the spindle to accomplish such lifting of the bar G.

For the purpose of locking the contact-bar G in its elevated adjustment with the contactpieces g in engagement with the fingers e', or with the ends of the contact-plates E, a plate M is loosely mounted upon the spindle below thebar Gand provided with a pair of upwardlyextending lugs m, located upon opposite sides of the plate and having their upper ends slightly beveled. The plate M is here shown as of disk form, and is provided with a central recess on', in which the ends of a pin m2, fixed transversly in the spindle, are allowed to swing. The recess fm is provided at opposite points with abutments m3, which are so located that just before the contact-bar G reaches its highest point, or its farthest point away from the base, the ends of the pins m2 will engage the abutments m3, and will thereby rotate the plate M, causing the beveled ends ot the lugs m to engage under neath the bar G and supportit independently of the guide-studs K. This admits of the spindle, together with the cam, being swung back into position, with the pin m2 in engagement with the opposite sides of the abutments m3, where the bar G retains its engagement with the contact-plates. Vhen it is desired to break the contact, the spindle is turned slightly in the opposite direction to release the lugs 'nt from engagement with the `bar G, when the latter is free to drop suddenly into its depressed adjustment out of contact.

In order to give the bar G a quick throw out of contact, I provide a spring N, one end ot which is secured to the bar G and the other to the spindle, so that when the bar G is moved away from the top of the base the spring N will become compressed and its tension will tend to return the said bar out of contact when the spring is released.

For convenience in operating the spring N, I provide a handle or knob O, which may be fixed thereto in any well-known or approved manner.

Vhat I claim as my invention isl. rlhe combination, with a suitable base provided with a recess in its under side and two pairs of contact-plates secured to its top and having their adjacent ends extending` upwardly and toward one another, of a rotary spindle mounted in the base, a cam secured on the spindle within the recess in the bottom of the base, a contact-bar carrying contact-pieces located between the ends of the contact-plates, studs extending from the barthrough the base into contact with the cam for elevating the contact-bar to bring the contact-pieces into engagement with the approaching ends of the contact-plates, and a locking device to retain the contact-bar in its adjustment away from the base, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of a base, the contact-plates secured thereto in pairs, the spindle having a cam secured thereon,and the contact-bar having an engagement with the cam, whereby the rotation of the spindle moves the bar away from the base, and a locking-plate actuated by the spindle as the contact-bar nears the limit of its adjustment away from the base to hold the contact-bar in adjustment to make contact while the spindle is turned in the opposite direction, substantially as set forth.

LE ROY S. WHITE. lVitnesses:

FREDK. HAYNEs, D. H. IIAYwooD.

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